There are a lot of great pet travel products out there, so it can be difficult to make a choice. And what works perfectly for one person and their dog may not work as well for you and yours. How can you tell which product to get if all the companies are saying theirs is the best? Our Dog Travel Advisor at Pet Auto Safety can help.

We have a lot of experience with various pet travel products. After all, we’ve been in business since 2006! Our current dog travelers, Maya and Pierson, have tried out almost every single brand of dog car harness as well as many other products. So I think it’s safe to say that we can really help you with our new Pros and Cons series.

In our new Pros and Cons series, we will highlight a specific product and tell you what we found to be great and not-so-great based on our own perspective and the perspective of our customers. This week’s highlight is the ClickIt Sport dog seat belt from Sleepypod. This harness is an improvement on the ClickIt Utility. It is a brand new brand, introduced at the tail end of 2014.

Pro – #1 Safety
The ClickIt Sport is only dog car harness to date to receive the CPS certification for safety. CPS stands for the Center for Pet Safety. They are an independent non-profit organization that evaluates the safety of various pet products.

Pro – Easy to Use
Unlike the ClickIt Utility, the ClickIt Sport is easy to put on, easy to size, and it is easier to secure your dog in the car with it. To put it on, simply have your dog step in the leg openings, and then pull it up and clip it on. It sizes easily with straps on the sides. To secure your dog in the car, put the seat belt of the car through the back of the harness straps. Please note the con with this method below.

Pro – Quality
This harness is much lighter than its older version. But it is just as strong and durable. The materials are of high quality and the construction is thorough. It should be noted that the harness uses plastic clips to be secured on your dog. However, these plastic clips are not tied into the security mechanism that secures your dog in the car.

Pro – Other Design Features
The ClickIt Sport is well padded and it can also be used as a walking harness. The neck line of the harness is curved so that it sits low and prevents choking.

Con – Securing Your Dog
While the ClickIt Sport is not as difficult to secure your dog in the car as the ClickIt Utility is, it is not the easiest as compared to some other dog seat belts. To put the seat belt of the car through the back of the harness, your dog has to be sitting just right. If you have a hyper dog, this can be a challenge.

Con – Highly Restrictive
To be the safest, a car harness also has to be the most restrictive. Your dog will only be able to sit and lie down with the ClickIt Sport on in the vehicle. He will not be able to stand. This can mean that the harness can be highly uncomfortable, especially on longer road trips. It also means your dog might chew through or try to wiggle out of the harness.

Con – Won’t Fit All Sizes
The ClickIt Sport does not come in extra-small or extra-large sizes. For smaller dogs, Sleepypod recommends their crash tested pet car seats instead. Sleepypod is still in the process of designing and extra-large harness.

Price
Whether the price is a pro or con depends on your perspective. Compared to other quality crash tested dog car harnesses, the ClickIt Sport is priced relatively low. But it is high compared to car seat belts that didn’t do as well in safety testing or harnesses that haven’t been safety tested at all.

Despite the few cons, the ClickIt Sport is still an excellent choice. Consider it if your dog isn’t too small or too large, and if your dog isn’t going to mind the restriction. If you find the dog car harness difficult to secure in your car, it just takes a little getting used to. Once you and your dog has a hang of it, it’s easy. The ClickIt Sport is constantly being sold out, so visit our Pet Auto Safety site today and buy yours. Use discount code petsafeblogger for 10% off. (This code applies to all the ClickIts on our site but may not apply to a few of our other pet travel products.)

One time when we traveled, we forgot our dogs’ food! We left it by the door but forgot to put it in our car. Thankfully, we were able to find their regular brand at a store along the way. Have you ever forgotten to bring something when you traveled with your dog?

In 2013, the nonprofit organization, the Center for Pet Safety (CPS), tested a number of dog car harness brands. The brand they found to be the safest was the ClickIt brand. The AllSafe brand was not far behind. There was only one issue that kept it from ranking the best. The tether allowed the dog to launch off the seat in the crash test simulation.

Even though the AllSafe uses a short 6″ tether, it was still too long for optimum safety. So, AllSafe recommends the following tactic to make the harness safer:

Put the seat belt of the car directly through the back of the harness for optimum safety.

By putting the seat belt of the car through the back like this, you can limit your dog’s movement in the event of an auto accident. Limiting movement helps keep your dog in the seat and from getting tossed side-to-side.

Keep in mind, however, that limiting your dog’s movement might also make him uncomfortable. In being uncomfortable, he may try to chew the harness off or wiggle out of it. For this reason, AllSafe still includes the short 6″ tether with their product. If you need a longer tether, you can get this as well. Come visit us at Pet Auto Safety for the AllSafe dog car harness and for the longer tether.

Fun and/or Instructional Videos on Pet Travel Products

Although we’ve slowed down a bit on the video-making projects, we have no plans to stop. We want to make more. We want to make better videos that show how to use the dog car harnesses, how to install other pet travel products, and other instructional videos. We also want to do a couple more funny videos of Maya and Pierson riding in the car. Is there a video you’d like to see us make? Is there a product you’d like to see more of? Do you have any funny ideas for Maya and Pierson’s Car Talk Adventures?

New #DogTravelAdvisor

My dogs have been using dog seat belts for over 15 years. And I have been selling them for over eight years. And not just dog seat belts, but other pet travel products too. My dogs Sephi, Maya, and Pierson have been guinea pigs for more than half the products we sell (excluding those for small dogs since mine are big). If I haven’t used certain products, I’ve been listening to feedback from those that have used them.

As a result, I have become very knowledgeable about pet travel products. And so I am taking on a new task of being PetAutoSafety’s new dog travel advisor. You will start to see #DogTravelAdvisor in our tweets, on Facebook, and on Google Plus.

Go ahead, ask me anything about dog car travel. Anything, really! If I don’t know the answer, I will help you find out who does.

The PetAutoSafety logo is designed after Maya. She will be the inspiration for our other design projects.

Most of our 2014 goals were met, so now it is time to make new ones. Besides continuing to provide the best pet travel products on the market, PetAutoSafety will also continue to look for new dog traveling gear. And we have a few other projects we will work on. Check out the ones we are working on at this very moment, and then come visit our blog again to see what else we have planned.

Redesign Our Retail Website

We’ve recently been told politely and bluntly that our retail website is old fashioned and cumbersome to use. It hurt our feelings, but darn it, it’s true. And so we are in the process of redesigning our site. You may have noticed some recent changes. For one, we were told that we needed a powerful and cute photo of a traveling dog. And so we have posted Maya’s picture on the top of our home page. Go check out PetAutoSafety and tell us what you think. Is it cute? Does it reach out and grab your attention? Does it make you want to shop there?

Redesign Our Blog

If you thought our retail website was old fashioned, you do doubt feel the same about this blog. Maya sure is cute on the top header, but it just doesn’t fit what PetAutoSafety is all about. Our blog host provider limits what we can do, so we will do our best to work with what we have.

We sure could use your advice on how we can improve our retail website and blog. Please feel free to comment below. And come back to our blog later in a few days to see what our other exciting 2015 goals are.

Traveling with your dog can be a great adventure. Before you start your travel, there are some things you want to keep in mind when traveling in the car with your pet.

Safety

Always remember safety first. Purchasing a dog safety seat will be safer for your dog in case you come to a sudden stop or make a quick turn. Make sure your pet cannot roam around the vehicle freely. There are also pet safety belts that can be purchased. This can ensure that the pet cannot be thrown from the vehicle or into another passenger in case of an accident, sudden stop, or turn. Another option is purchasing a crate. If you ever considered traveling with your pet by plane, then having your pet in a crate is required by the airline. It can also keep your pet out of trouble at a hotel or somebody else’s house. You want to make sure the crate is big enough to allow the dog to stand, turn, and lie down. It should be sturdy with handles and grips. It should also have a leak proof bottom covered with absorbent material. Air should be able to flow through it freely.

Identification

In case your dog gets away from you during a trip, it is best to make sure he has identification to increase the chances of a recovery. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar at all times, which have identification tags with the dog’s name, your name, a number where you can be reached, and proof of rabies shots. You can consider a more permanent form of identification, such as a microchip. It is also a good idea to have a recent picture of your dog with you.

The Car Ride

Allow your dog to get used to sitting in the car first without leaving the driveway and then start off by going for short rides, so you and your dog can get familiar with traveling by car together. Don’t feed your dog before traveling. This way you can avoid car sickness. Make the first few trips somewhere fun for your dog, like a park or field. This way he will associate riding in the car as something fun and enjoyable as opposed to just trips to the vet. Make sure to have plenty of water at all times especially during the warmer times. Keep the car well ventilated. However, do not let your dog ride with his head sticking out of an open window. This can lead to the potential of an eye injury. Never leave your dog unattended in a closed vehicle, especially during warmer or colder temperatures. If you do have to leave your dog, make sure someone else is in the car with him. When going on long car trips make sure to bring some of your dog’s favorite chew toys and treats, so he will not get bored. Stop often for exercise and potty breaks and be sure to have something to clean up after your dog.

Traveling by car can be a great experience for you and your pet, but to make sure that it is a great experience following these tips will be helpful. Now you’re ready to ride off into the sunset.

In an independent crash test study completed by the Center for Pet Safety in 2013, the ClickIt Utility dog seat belt from Sleepypod was rated as the safest brand out of eleven popular brands. Indeed, upon using the ClickIt Utlity for ourselves, we found it secured our dogs very well. But there were a few inconvenient issues that make people turn away from it. And so, Sleepypod redesigned a better harness called the ClickIt Sport.

MEASURING
The issues with the ClickIt Utility aren’t safety issues, but issues with use. For one, the measuring method is not as simple as with other brands and people were often confused about what to measure. The ClickIt Sport dog car harness has a much easier measuring method. All one has to do is measure around the barrel of the dog’s chest behind the front legs.

SIZING
The ClickIt Utility is also difficult to adjust for size. Despite Sleepypod’s videos, many people had a hard time getting the harness to fit their dog properly. The ClickIt Sport is much easier to adjust so it can fit perfectly without much trouble.

PUTTING IT ON
Relatively speaking, putting on the ClickIt Utility harness is about the same as putting on any other dog car harness. You basically have to put the harness over your dog’s head and then physically put his front legs through the openings. Some dogs are less than cooperative. The ClickIt Sport is a little easier. Have your dog sit, put the harness under him with his front feet in the leg spaces, then pull it up and buckle it.

SECURING IN THE CAR
A dog wearing the ClickIt Utility has to be secured in three different places in the car. Firstly, the seat belt of the car goes through the back. Then two side straps are connected to the baby seat latch bars. So if someone’s car doesn’t have the latch bars, then they can’t use this car harness. Trying to secure a dog at all three points is difficult and frustrating for some. With the ClickIt Sport, all you have to do is put the seat belt of the car through the back. There are no side straps.

SAFETY
Nothing has changed regarding safety. The ClickIt Sport has passed all the same tests as the ClickIt Utility and has received a CPS Certification authenticating its safety.

If you’re looking for a dog seat belt and are put off by some of the negative reviews about the ClickIt Utility, consider the new ClickIt Sport instead. It’s just as safe, but much easier to use. It is still very restrictive, but this is what makes it so safe.

Top quality. German engineered. Extensively crash tested. There are many dog travel cages on the market, but there is only one that meets the highest safety standards—
the Variocage.

I want an SUV so I can have this Variocage for Maya and Pierson. Other sizes available.

The Variocage dog travel cage has had a perfect safety in Europe for over ten years. It is now available here in the US. It is a very high quality cage designed for use in the cargo area of SUVs and some hatchback cars. Because it comes in 4 styles with 14 different sizes, you can find the perfect size. And best of all, no vehicle modification is required.

The safety features of the Variocage include a built-in crumple zone. This will absorb an impact and prevent the cage from being pushed forward into front passengers. This pet safety product also has an “escape” hatch in the back so that if the front door is damaged in a crash, there is another way for your pal to get out. It is made of durable powder coated steel that will hold up in a variety of crash scenarios.

The Variocage safety dog travel cage was misshapen from the accident, but it didn’t smash and the dog is unharmed.

More information on the crash testing can be found on this video:

Wow! It’s no wonder the manufacturer claims the Variocage to be the best crash tested pet safety product in the world. I think my dogs will be safer than me!

Before buying the Variocage, be sure to read all the information regarding how to get the right style and size. You will want to measure your vehicle. And you will want to consider the angle of the closed hatch into account, along with wheel wells that might interfere with how the cage fits, and if the back hatch as a raised sill. You can read all the information about the Variocage dog travel cage at Pet Auto Safety.com.

The Variocage Compact style allows the cage door to be opened for these two Sheltie dogs when the cargo area has a raised sill.